


Parting is Such Sweet Sorrow

by Mysterious_Prophetess



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Funeral, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Immortality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-26 10:38:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9890804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mysterious_Prophetess/pseuds/Mysterious_Prophetess
Summary: "To say goodbye is to die a little.”― Raymond Chandler, The Long Goodbye





	

Cindy had passed in her sleep just shy of her 94th birthday. She was survived by one son, Cid Aurum, two grandchildren, Canus Aurum and Regina Hester nee Aurum. Five Great Grand Children: Cid Aurum, Cindy Aurum, Jared Hester, Dustin Hester, and Monica Hester. She was also survived by her husband of sixty years, Prompto Argentum. Sixty years together after over a decade of him trying to woo her. Many argued her first love, her primary spouse, was her garage. Prompto didn’t mind that his “grease-monkey goddess” loved her work; in fact, it made him love her all the more.

* * *

Prompto allowed his daughter-in-law and granddaughter-in-law give him a hand with staying upright through the funeral. His grief was too much. More pain was yet to come.

_“Poor man. Probably won’t last much longer without her.”_

_“You must be new here. That man is as spry and active as any teenager. It’s damn near unnatural. I’d swear if you shaved that beard off and dyed that hair blond he’d look easily forty years younger than he ought to.”_

Rumors like that had spread through the growing community of Hammerhead for the last twenty years whenever it was obvious that Prompto wasn’t slowing down. He knew more people were getting suspicious of “Old Argentum.” It was causing friction for his family.

* * *

Prompto and his family proceeded back to the house. Before, building it so close to the garage had been a brilliant move to allow Cindy to keep close to her work. Now, it made the pain so much worse even if it was Cid and Canus who ran the business now.

“I…. need to be left alone for a while,” he told them. He locked the doors behind them and shed the suit making his way to the ensuite. It was time to transform into someone else. Prompto pulled out the supplies he’d packed away preparing for this day.

* * *

_Forty-Five years prior_

_Prompto looked at a set of family photos and frowned. He hadn’t wanted to believe it but here was the proof._

_An off the cuff comment about that “cougar woman running that garage” had struck him as really weird._

_So he had a baby face big deal, right? Wrong._

_Instead of looking at the face of the forty-something he should be, he was just as fresh faced as he had been at twenty. Sure, a goatee added some believability to his age, but that only made him seem maybe twenty-five at the oldest. It was almost as if he—_

_Going through family photos proved what he hadn’t wanted to admit; he wasn’t aging._

* * *

Prompto and Cindy both knew one day she would die and if he was still as ageless as ever, he’d need to leave. First hair dye removal. Many people dyed their hair to avoid grays while he dyed his to **_make_** it gray. Dye remover had gotten better over the last sixty years; it didn’t stink nearly as badly now. Once his shaggy hair was restored to its natural blond, it was time to destroy the beard he’d been growing for the better part of forty years. Scissors took care of as much of the length as possible. He then lathered up his face and carefully began the long process of shaving his face completely clean of any hair.

The transformation was complete. A baby faced stranger stared back at Prompto with wet blond hair that was trying to curl in it’s length. He’d get it cut another time. A set of clothes he’d “borrowed” from his great-grandson, Young Cid, fit like a glove. His old Kingsglaive boots were still in excellent shape. Pulling on fingerless gloves and his wristband took him back in time for a moment. He grabbed a small bag of essential’s he’d packed: toiletries, contact solution, his glasses, extra contacts, some precious stones to sell, his camera, his guns, and the keys to his bike. He took a step towards the door only to fall back onto the bed sobbing because of something he’d sighted out of the corner of his eye: His wedding photo. It was hours until he could pull himself together well enough to carry out his plan. He snuck out avoiding all the creaks in the floors like a mouse. He almost made it scot-free.

 

“Freeze!” He stopped in his tracks. It was Cindy, at sixteen she was just as impressive a figure as her great-grandmother in her prime and twice the gear head. “I don’t know who you are, but stealing from my fashion blind brother isn’t cool, even if you’re doing him a favor by forcing him to buy real clothing.” Prompto shook his head. “Who are you anyway? Are you some sort of relative who was only here for MeeMaw’s funeral or something?”

“Cindy, you’d better get back to bed. I’ll handle this.” Prompto sighed. It was Canus.

“Alright, who are you and why are you wearing my son’s clothes?”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” Prompto said. It was almost a relief to not have to attempt to do an old man voice and speak with his actual voice.

“Try me,” Canus said. Prompto turned around to face Canus. The man’s expression was priceless. If it hadn’t been so serious, Prompto would have wished to have caught this face on film.

“Are you an Argentum, after all this time?” Canus said.

“I—.”

“Son, have you see your Paw Paw? I checked his room but he’s not there—.” Cid stopped short staring at Prompto.

“Son, who’s this?”

“I think he’s one of Paw Paw’s relatives,” Canus said.

“Are you really related to the Argentums?” Cid said.

“The last one,” Prompto said, “I uh have a letter for you from the old man. He’s the one who took these clothes. Mine were kind of not road worthy. If it’s a problem—.”

“No problem. I’d say they look a bit better on you than Young Cid,” Canus said, “Not sure where the kid got it into his head to mix plaid with a pattern.”

“You’ve been listening to your daughter complain for too long,” Cid said shaking his head. Prompto dug out the envelope. His hand shook a moment, but he steeled himself and handed it over.

“Sure you can’t stay until morning?” Canus asked. Cid was already opening the envelope.

“It’s best if I leave now. I…have a long road ahead of me,” Prompto said, “Walk Tall, you two.”

“Walk Tall?” The older men were staring at him. Prompto gave them a small slightly wistful smile.

“It’s something a friend’s father told me once. I’ve been living by it ever since,” Prompto said. He turned around and barely kept a sob in. This was it. He walked out the door and lost control of another sob. He stifled a few others as he found his bike, which he’d hidden off to the side. He started it up and just before he pulled out, Cid burst out the door.

Fast reader. _Damnit how could have forgotten that?_

“Dad, don’t!” Prompto looked ahead and gunned the gas leaving his home — **their** home— in the dust.

It was time to move on and to keep walking tall.

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea of Prompto being immortal because of another fanfic idea I was working on.  
> It was supposed to take place in the future of Eos and Immortal!Prompto barged right into it.
> 
> If you want to add an extra layer to this fic, I suggest listening to Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" while reading.


End file.
